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Food

Let’s nurture the appetite for a healthy, sustainable, waste-free diet

Different varieties of local vegetables.

Our hotels serve 150 million meals a year. Because we are also restaurateurs, because today’s food model is not sustainable, and because our guests want quality food products, we must take concrete action regarding food, which is a high-stakes issue for our Group. Our Goal? To offer our guests healthy, sustainable food and also to eliminate food waste.

Amir NahaiChief Food & Beverage officer

We feed our guests like we would feed our own kids, in a responsible way

Our commitments for 2020

We have three reasons for doing this

EthicalEvery year, more than 30% of world food production is lost or wasted. Less than a quarter of this wasted food would suffice to eliminate hunger, which affects 792 million people (1).

EnvironmentalGiven the water consumption, use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, etc. farming takes a heavy toll on the environment, and also contributes significantly to our own footprint. Hence the need minimize waste.
EconomicalIn the hotel and restaurant industries, an estimated 25% of food purchases are thrown away. This waste represents between 4% and 12% of the food revenue generated by the industry (2).If we reduce this waste, we also reduce our hotels’ expenses.

(1) SOURCE : FAO — (2) SOURCE : WINNOW

TO PAINT A CLEARER PICTURE

16,000

1

If you throw away one loaf of bread, you are wasting 100 liters of water...

Food & beverages, a key means of
reducing our environmental impact

THE FOOD AND DRINK CONSUMED IN OUR HOTELS IS ONE OF THE THREE MAIN AREAS WHERE OUR GROUP CAN TAKE ACTION TO REDUCE ITS IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT.

Food & beverage:

Is the largest contributor to our biodiversity footprint:It accounts for 88% of our impact on flora and fauna, mostly during the farming stage.

Is the largest contributor to our water footprint:It represents 40% of our global water consumption, mostly due to crop irrigation and livestock farming.
It is responsible for 79% of our impact on the eutrophication of seawater: the proliferation of algae as a result of the use of nitrate-rich fertilizers in crop farming.

Is the second largest contributor to our carbon footprint:More than 10% of our global CO2 emissions come principally from the transport of merchandise and from livestock farming to produce meat and dairy products.

Accounts for 50% of the waste generated by our hotels: Food waste, used food oils and fats. Or an annual average of:

47 metric tons in an upscale hotel (Sofitel, Pullman, etc.)

35 metric tons in a midscale hotel (Novotel, Mercure)

17 metric tons in an economy hotel (ibis)

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OUR ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT

What we are doing already

TO AVOID WASTE, EVERY INITIATIVE COUNTS.
WITH A LITTLE CREATIVITY, WE HAVE OBTAINED ENCOURAGING RESULTS.

For example, a lot of our hotels find ingenious ways of reusing food produce that has not been consumed in other recipes to avoid throwing it away. Here are a few examples:

What we plan to do over the next five years

FIRST, LET’S TAKE THE RIGHT MEASURES. WE WILL MEASURE FOOD WASTE. WE PLEDGE TO REDUCE FOOD WASTE BY 30% BY 2020.

Specifically, each type of food waste will be weighed and valued (according to its cost price). The total waste value will be calculated relative to the restaurant revenue, in order to account for variations in business. The 30% reduction will concern this ratio.
This is the first step we will take to help foster virtuous practices in our hotels.

To achieve this, we will gradually provide them with the necessary tools so they can:

make an initial assessment of their situation.

launch an action plan to reduce key types of waste.

monitor their own progress.

In 2015, we tested a digital tool of this kind, commercialized by a start-up, in some of our luxury hotels. We are currently continuing these tests in the hotels operating under the Group’s other brands.
Then, let’s activate all the available levers to prevent waste at the source.
For example, let’s:

respect food storage temperatures better

regularly check use-by dates

ensure the reliability of food quantity estimates, especially when ordering for seminars

limit the number of products offered in the buffets

not prepare the dishes too far in advance

serve more appropriately sized portions to our guests

create inventive recipes to use “leftovers” better

raise our employees’ and guests’ awareness of the need to fight food waste

COSTS HALVED

The Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit in Thailand is one of the pilot hotels that implemented an external food waste measuring and monitoring system and a food waste reduction action plan

AFTER FOUR MONTHS, IT HAD ACHIEVED

A 50% reduction in food waste in value

$60,000 in estimated annual savings

A 14% decrease in the weight of food waste per meal served

Our Group serves 150 million meals a year worldwide.
This means we have a dual responsibility to:

Participate in the fight against obesity, diabetes and other food-related illnesses which have become a real public health problem.

Assist the shift towards more sustainable food models.The growing taste for local produce and seasonal fruit and vegetables; the preference for short supply chains, the development of organic farming and fair trade, etc. are examples of the growing number of signs which point to an agricultural revolution.

The challenges are well-known:

to evolve from intensive farming methods which use a large amount of chemical products that are harmful to the environment and sometimes also to the farmers, towards more qualitative farming that is respectful of man and the planet.

to meet the expectations of consumers who want authenticity and products that are better quality, healthier, fresher, etc.

To paint a clearer picture

Our guests are very keen on responsible food. What appeals to them most?

94%

healthy food

73%

local produce

59%

seasonal produce

56%

organic produce

What we are doing already

At the end of 2017, almost all of our hotels had removed endangered marine species from their menus: Bluefin tuna, swordfish, shark, ray, etc. 98% highlighted the healthy dishes on their menus. 60% sourced their products locally.A few examples in Eastern Europe:

In Poland

All our hotels serve Rainforest Alliance Certified tea. This label guarantees that the product is sourced from sustainably managed farms.
Novotel establishments are developing a range of products certified by external organizations. All of them already offer organic wine and tea. The Novotel Warsaw Airport will soon produce its own honey. Mercure addresses also offer organic wines and local and seasonal vegetables. Lastly, a large number of certified local producers have become referenced suppliers. We have sent this supplier list to our restaurants.

In Romania

The Novotel Bucharest City Center has an Organic Corner for its guests featuring yoghurt, soya milk, honey and especially apple juice made with fruit from local orchards supported by our Plant for the Planet program.

Sofitel's DE-LIGHTconcept

Sofitel’s healthy and tasty dining DE-LIGHT concept launched in 2013 has been successfully exported to all the Sofitel properties. Cooking staff are trained by nutritionists. This healthy, well-balanced menu is made using local produce and addresses a key guest expectation.

What we plan to do over the next five years

The Accor healthy and sustainable food Charter focuses the Group’s goal and its pledges on three priorities:

fighting food waste,

protecting its guests’ health,

sourcing sustainable products.

Across the world, it means that hotels commit, for example, to:

limit the fats in some foods,

serve quality meat,

remove more endangered wild fish from their menus,

prefer sustainable foods: local produce from sustainably managed or organic farms, depending on the location of our restaurants.

Developing urban farming is one of the great challenges facing us in the coming years.

It is a response to increasing urbanization and the growing gap between:

rural farming areas which produce food, and

cities, which simply consume.

Solutions are emerging everywhere to bring these two worlds closer together:

urban vegetable gardens,

suburban educational farms,

short supply chains,

farmer-to-consumer sales, etc.

Various techniques are used to boost the performance of urban farming:

Hydroponics: A soilless method of growing plants on a neutral substrate irrigated with nutrient and mineral enriched water solutions.

Aquaponic: Cultivating plants in symbiosis with raising fish whose excrements serve as fertilizer for the plants.

70%

1/4

What we are doing already

Some of our hotels are already leading the way and have created a vegetable garden.
Example: the Pullman Paris Tour Eiffel, in the heart of the French capital

650m2 of vegetables, fruit, flowers and herbs, a henhouse, 4 beehives: It is probably the biggest vegetable garden in Paris.
It provides a daily supply of fresh produce for the hotel’s restaurant with a yield of 500kg of fruit and vegetables. It also provides shelter for biodiversity.

In the Kitchen, in the spring, summer and autumn, the chef adjusts his menus according to the morning’s harvest. At the bar, the herbs add original flavors to the cocktails. The fresh eggs are favorites at Sunday brunch.

What we plan to do over the next five years

Our hotels’ 1,000 urban vegetable gardens could come in different formats, large or small, traditional or avant-garde.

However, to be included in our list, they will have to meet certain criteria: minimum cultivation surface area, production of vegetables for food consumption, regular maintenance, etc.

They will be adapted to the hotel context and space limitations:

vegetable gardens planted in open ground for the hotels with a garden,

vegetable gardens on the roofs and terraces for the other hotels, with vegetables grown either in soil or using other innovative solutions such as hydroponics.

The vegetables, fruit, herbs and edible flowers that they will produce will feature in the restaurant menus, in the bar cocktails or in our spas’ aromatic oils and herbal teas.